Looking for the perfect recipe
agile42 has a tradition of visiting Vito’s for our company dinners (that’s Vineria Fraschetta in Friedrichshain in Berlin, for those not in the know). We of course enjoy the cozy atmosphere and interesting discussions over some bottles of Sangiovese. Then again these ingredients can be found in any restaurant. We come back to Vito’s every time, because he is an excellent chef — a formidable wizard when it comes to italian food.
Each culture has its own recipes. There are Italian recipes, French recipes, Indian recipes and so on. But there is no perfect recipe, as each culture has its own peculiarities, taste, spices etc. No one is trying to convince Italian chefs that they should use Indian recipes. However they could definitely look at them to get inspiration and introduce new dishes. They adapt them to their context and culture.
Looking at how we drive organisations, you will quickly realise that most of them are looking for the perfect recipes (aka practices, “best practices”). Show us the methods and tools we should use, define which roles, activities and artefacts should be introduced and we are done. Give us the right recipe, and we will apply it and then magically become the next Google, Toyota or whatever.
Indeed there are no other Googles and Toyotas out there. Both companies are unique in what they are doing and just trying to copy their process and/or using their tools will have little effect. It’s not so much “how” they do things, rather it’s the shared purpose, the mindset and attitude of their people that makes the difference. The “how” changes continuously as the world and the business climate is changing.
Some organisations are obsessed with tools. The thinking goes that if you get the toolchain running, people will have to follow the new processes. For instance there are still people that think that reducing waste or applying Lean Six Sigma is the only thing you need to do to become Lean.
Many realise that culture is a big part of the equation, and so they try to instill/enforce the new one. By trainings, by processes and tools. This will not work either. Culture change cannot be teached and it does not happen magically by using a new practice or a new tool. As Peter Drucker famously said, culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Many companies underestimate the cost and difficulty of the transition, how hard it is to keep the balance between stability and change. Some go for a big-bang approach, a quick disruptive change, others are hesitant and slow. In either case, gravity (culture) and friction (resistance to change) tend to drag back the system to its previous state.
In essence, there is no single recipe. To create a good meal, you need to understand basic food chemistry and how the ingredients and raw materials react together. While beginners may benefit from recipes, the best chefs have honed their skills through years of experience and document their recipes only for information sharing and brand building.
Similarly, when creating a good organisation you need to understand the basics of how organisations work. You need to focus on why you are changing. i.e. identify either goals to work towards or sources of dissatisfaction (pain points). You need to understand principles and values behind the methodologies and approaches you are going to use. You need to evolve your own organisation by being different, not just by adopting new processes and tools. Again beginners may benefit from recipes, but going anywhere beyond that means that you must learn and start utilizing the basic concepts.
Our friend Vito is the master when it comes to Italian food. He knows the rules, and when to break them. He doesn’t necessarily follow any recipes… he follows his nose! And we like the results.
Photo of Vito and Vineria Fraschetta by Karolina Rosina